He Returns
by ThePotterGeek
Summary: I'm in denial. Jack didnt die. What might have happened if the movie agreed with me. Complete.
1. He's alive

**Hey guys! Here's my first ****Titanic**** fanfic, so pardon me if it isn't very good. I'm not one who is very romantic, so this is gonna be hard…. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the laptop I'm typing on right now. It's my dad's.**

Jack's POV

I could only just feel her cold lips touch my numb hand, then I could barley hear her whisper, "I will never let go," and I scarcely felt her let go of me. I could tell I was going to fall to the bottom of the ocean if I didn't do something. For a moment I didn't care, but then Rose's face swam before me. I knew it wasn't real, that it was just my memory. Yet I knew that somewhere up there, she was wishing I were there too. And I knew I had to get to the surface.

I was frozen, but after a while I could kick. It was a miracle that I was able to hold my breath for so long.

After what seemed like ages, I felt freezing air upon my face. I took a huge breath and looked around. I saw a piece of driftwood, and immediately recognized it as the piece of wood Rose had been floating on, but when I swam over to it, it was very clear that she was no longer on it. I wanted to scream in frustration, but my throat wouldn't make a sound. Either she died, or a boat found her. If it was the former, I wanted to sink back to the bottom of the ocean; if it was the latter, I needed to continue. Not knowing which it was, I decided I needed to keep moving, stay alive, get to a boat.

There was a light in the distance: a boat! I started swimming with all my strength, so naturally it took me quite a while to reach it. When I finally reached it, the people in it pulled me in. I was given a blanket, and when I wouldn't stop shivering, someone gave me their coat. I didn't really register anything; everything seemed a blur of faces.

"Are you all right, son?" a familiar voice asked. I recognized it as Molly Brown's.

"Rose," I managed, "Where's Rose?"

"I'm sorry, Jack. I have no idea."

Suddenly someone was speaking to me with urgency in her voice. "Rose! What happened to Rose?" In the wavering light of the flashlight held by a crewman, I saw Ruth DeWitt Bukator's face leaning toward mine, worry for her daughter in her eyes.

"I… I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I mean, I went unconscious, and when I woke up, she was gone!" I was getting annoyed. Her concern for Rose couldn't be half of my heart wrenching worry for her.

She glared at me as though it were my fault that she no longer had her daughter with her, no longer knew what was going to happen to her. But it was her own fault for alienating her own daughter.

Still, the unspoken conversation between the two of us stung me. I tried to tell myself it wasn't my fault that Rose was gone, lost somewhere, perhaps in a place where I couldn't find her. I tried to tell myself that Ruth's accusation wasn't true at all. But it was tough.

"Go to sleep, son," Molly advised. "There's nothin' you can do right now about anything."

She didn't understand. I couldn't go to sleep. Not with all the anxiety I felt. I must have dozed off into a fitful sleep, however, because the next thing I knew, it was sunrise.

Rose's POV

They found me and put me in a boat. They gave me quite a few blankets and wrapped them around me tight. They kept the actual cold off me, but my heart was freezing like the Atlantic that I had just come out of.

He was gone. I had watched him float down and down until I couldn't see him anymore. I would never see his face again, never look into his penetratingly blue eyes again.

It all hurt too much. It made me want to throw myself off the lifeboat and join him at the bottom of the ocean. But I had made a promise to him that I would go on. And that I would.

Tears flowed freely down my face. For hours, it seemed, I sat in the boat, saltwater dripping uncontrollably out of my eyes. I fell asleep eyes red and swollen.

**Okay, here we are. I will probably post again in like two minutes, because I have nothing to do and I'm on a roll!**

**Arns**


	2. They wake, and sleep

**I am rewriting this story. The only thing I'm not touching is the first chapter. So yeah. I thi8nk I'll have more ideas if I do it like this.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, so whoever owns the movie, don't sue me, I have nothing you want… unless you're interested in human flesh? You're not, are you? Wait, why are you advancing on me like that…**

Rose's POV

She awoke to a blood-red horizon. **(A/N- you know what they say: a red sun rises, blood has been spilt that night. Legolas is AWESOME) **There were five other people in the lifeboat. Only six (including her) had been saved from a horrible, freezing death. And Jack wasn't one of them. Rose felt tears flowing down her face again. He was gone. Jack was gone, and she felt lost.

A ship was coming closer and closer. Someone has seen and heard the distress calls of the _Titanic_; they were coming to save the survivors.

When it pulled up alongside them, she read the silver lettering on the side of the ship, the _Carpathia._ It was a beautiful name for a beautiful ship. But she didn't appreciate it. She didn't appreciate being alive when so many others had died. Why on earth had she lived?

A ladder was dropped down over the side of the ship. She climbed up it, trembling and barely able to hold onto the ropes. She had a mug of hot liquid pressed into her hands, then a thick blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Someone inquired what class she was from. "Steerage," she muttered, because she felt that that was where she belonged, more than first class. A man led her to a lower deck. She looked around for Jack's friends, but she saw only few of the people who had been at the party that night. She only say about twenty people, or less, from steerage. Second class was here too. But she could tell the difference. The people who were there were sitting in shock, crying, tearing clothing, murmuring prayers. "Good luck finding your loved ones, my dear," said the man, and he left. Rose just sat down, in shock. The captain of the _Carpathia_ came and told them that over fifteen hundred died. Only about seven hundred had been saved.

_And they were loading the lifeboats into the water half-full,_ thought Rose disgustedly. So Jack was lying at the bottom of the ocean with over fifteen hundred souls. She said a prayer for those who perished, hoping their souls would quickly reach paradise. There were so many stories of bravery, so many stories of nobility.

And then there were stories of cowardice. She had seen a man slip into a boat to save his own life. She was sure that there were more than one of those people.

After a few hours, she heard a familiar voice she loathed.

"May I look here, sir?"

"Of course Mr. Hockley, but you won't find any of yours here. It's all steerage."

How was that for cowardice? He probably slipped onto one of the boats as well. There were so few men, even in first class...

She heard his footsteps on the deck. She turned away from him, knowing she never wanted to see that horrible man again. And if she did, she'd spit in his eye, or knee him in the-

"Thank you sir. She's not here."

She heard the crewman mutter "I told you so" under his breath.

She felt so alone, so lost, she started singing, and she felt closer to Jack. "Come Josephine on my flying machine, up she goes, up she goes..." She sang herself to sleep, with tears glistening on her cheeks.

**Jack's POV**

He woke up in a soft, warm bed in a small room. A woman with dirty blonde hair and warm brown eyes that reminded him of Rose's was watching him.

"Oh good you're awake!" she said, smiling.

"How long have I been sleeping?" he asked.

"About ten hours," she replied, "and did you need it. A nice woman told me you had nearly died, but you forced yourself to swim to the boat. Very brave thing to do."

"Ten hours!" was all he could reply.

"Like I said, you needed it. Can I get you something? You must be starved."

"No thank you. Do you know if anyone will have a survivors list?"

"Maybe, But probably not for another few hours. We know that just over seven hundred people survived. One thousand five hundred died. We wanted the shock of it to wear off before we start interrogating them. But could I get your name ? I was told to give it to the captain."

"Jack Dawson," he replied, "Can I go and look for someone?"

"No, at least not yet. I have strict orders to keep you in your bed until tomorrow morning. If you would want to look for your family, then if they're here, they can't go anywhere very easily. Unless they want to jump off the boat and swim to New York, they'll be here when you get up." This woman seemed very nice, but she didn't understand the situation at hand. He was afraid that Rose would be found by Cal, and she would jump off the boat. And not to swim to New York either. He couldn't sit here when something like that could happen!

"Ma'am, I don't think you understand this is urgent-"

"And I don't think _you_ understand, Mr. Dawson, if you go out without us knowing there's nothing wrong with you, you might never see the light of day again, let alone your family. So you will just have to stay here until we are sure you're okay. You will find your family later. Tomorrow, if you are well. I promise as soon as we're sure you're not ill, we'll let you go about your business."

She was dead serious. But it wasn't until then that he noticed she was American. And not raised in riches, either, or she wouldn't be working on a boat. She was a girl from the streets of New York, and he felt he could trust her. He could only hope by morning that he would be allowed to find Rose. So he slept.

**I hope you like my revisions. The next new chapter three will be coming out soon! (I hope; no promises)**

**Arns**


	3. Unfair Accusations

**Hi, sorry it took me such a long time to update. School and other stuff has gotten in the way. Then we went on vacation for Turkey Day. So now I'm updating. Yay me. Oh and by the by, go back and read the last chapter, maybe both. Ok, go on with the disclaimer.**

**Please don't sue me! I don't own anything! Pretty please? I'll give you dime! Nickel? Quarter? Dollar? PLEASE, ANYTHING BUT SUING ME!!!!! **

**Ok, after that little emotional bit, lets get this par-tay started! **

Rose woke up, chest hurting from crying so much. Unlike the last time she had woken up, she remembered everything. She didn't want to. She really wished she could forget everything and go on with life. But she couldn't. She could go on, but she couldn't forget.

She realized quite suddenly that she was starving. That was to be expected, though. She hadn't eaten since... She couldn't remember. A lot of the last few days had gotten blurred. She couldn't sort one day from another.

Rose got up from the bench on which she had been sleeping, stretched he stiff limbs, then went off to ask someone where she could find a place to eat.

Jack woke up to the blonde woman checking him over. "What's the day and time?" he asked.

"It's the second day after the sinking, at eight in the morning. You have recovered. You probably have no idea how lucky you are. One of seven to be saved from the sea. One of three to have swam to the boats after the ship sank. There were four who were found still alive in the water. Most of the other people are in our care. One has pneumonia. You will probably have a cold for a while, and that is all. You are free to go when you wish, after you eat."

She gave him a tray of food. He had to force himself to eat. Only six people had been saved out of the water? What are Rose's chances? One out of thousands?

"Miss?" he said softly, barely being able to get the words out.

"Molly. Please call me Molly."

"Molly, how many people were saved?"

"About seven hundred. About fifteen hundred died. I told you yesterday, remember?"

He did. His stomach turned over uncomfortably. What were Rose's, Fabritzio's, Helga's (Fabritzio's girlfriend) and Tommy's chances of having survived? Very small...

"Jack? Mr. Dawson? Are you feeling all right? Your face just got very pale. Eat, by the way. What's the matter?"

"They're gone," he said, heart pounding and frozen as the iceberg that was causing him this misery. "All of my friends, gone." He had enough sense not to tell a total stranger how he felt about Rose.

Her face softened in sympathy and understanding. "Oh, I'm sorry. There's still a chance, though."

"Not much of one. Me and my mates, we were in steerage. I figure not many lived." To his horror, he was beginning to accept the fact everyone he cared about had died. He didn't want to accept it. It wasn't right. Molly did nod when he said not many people lived. That just finalized it. They were all dead.

"Seeing as you've finished your meal, you're free to go. Good luck finding your friends and family. If you need anymore help, or if you get sick, come to me immediately. We should be arriving in New York in two or three days. Anything I can do for you until then, just ask..."

"Thank you, Molly," he said slowly, "I will." He left the room, and started walking around the ship.

Rose had asked one of the passengers where she could find something to eat, and the kind woman had pointed her in the direction of a dining room. She started walking towards it, looking down. She was so immersed in her thoughts that she bumped into a man. She looked up to apologize, then completely swallowed her words when she saw who she had bumped into.

"Hello, Rose," said Cal in a cold voice, "How nice it is to bump into you."

"'Nice' is not exactly the term I would use," she replied, not bothering to keep hate out of her voice.

"So tell me, why didn't you come to first class where you belong? You led your mother and I into thinking you were dead. What a horrible thing to do. A bit selfish. Your mother was so worried."

"I wasn't trying to hurt her, I just never wanted to see _you_ again-"

He hit her across the face. "How _dare_ you! Go against me! You will marry me, weather you want to or not. I always have my way, girl!" Even though she knew he loved her, she also knew of his temper. He lost it. It was on a train to Siberia right now.

"No, I will not marry you, and you can't-"

She never got o finish the sentence. Cal had pulled back his arm and hit her hard on the head. She fell to the ground as a blonde haired man ran up to Cal and punched him in the nose. Rose assumed, from the blood spurting out of it, that it was broken. She registered all of this in a daze. She gripped hard to consciousness. But that seemed to be accompanying Cal's temper to distant lands. The man who had punched Cal was yelling at him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? You could have killed her! You fucking son of a bitch! I you have hurt her I'll kill you-"

The man's voice sounded so familiar, but Rose thought Cal had it her too hard (which he had, but still). The man hit Cal once more, knocking him out, then turned and rushed to her.

She nearly fainted. It couldn't be, he was dead, she had seen him die, sinking to the bottom of the ocean. But here he was, kneeling beside her looking as surprised as she felt, yet he also looked blissfully happy. She reached out and touched his face, just to make sure he was real.

"Jack..." she breathed, before he started kissing her passionately. When they broke apart, she said, "Jack, I thought you were dead, I'm so sorry, I let go, I-" She meant to continue, but he was kissing her again. He pulled away, but he held her face in his hands, stroking her cheek. "I thought you had died, too," he said, "but I knew there was a chance of you being alive, so I swam to the surface. I know I'm lucky to be alive." Then his face changed. "You look sick. Your eyes are red and you're pale."

"My eyes are red from crying so much. I have a slight cold, and the doctor who looked me over said it would be a little while before I would fully warm up. He says it's a miracle I'm alive."

Jack's heart turned over when he heard how she had been crying. He knew that she had cried for him. There really was nothing and no one else on board that she cared about, besides her mother, and she knew she had lived. He was also a bit worried about her. "What did Cal do to you?" he asked.

"Well, he yelled at me, hit me, then very nearly cracked my skull," she replied airily. At the horrified look on his face, she said quickly, "I was exaggerating about the cracked skull." He elbowed her playfully, then said, "You nearly gave me a heart attack. Let's go," he said, as he saw people were staring at them and Cal was beginning to stir. They walked into the dining room that Rose had been heading to before, sat down, ate, then walked around the ship together. They didn't talk much, but they were so relieved that they were alive and together, all they needed was each other's company for the moment.

They waked toward the bow of the ship just before dinner. Jack was just holding Rose, and she leaned into him. They breathed slowly, and the atmosphere around them was so peaceful.

Then Jack felt a hand on his shoulder. He was forced around, and at the same time, someone pulled Rose away from him. Rose screamed. "Jack! Jack!" she called, but she was being dragged away from him. Jack was struggling with a man who had just managed to put handcuffs on him. A third man was talking to Cal, who was nodding. Jack's eyes hardened in hate. This was the man who was always at the center of his and Rose's troubles.

Cal turned to Rose, smirking. "I _told_ you I always get what I want." Turning to Jack, he said, "You are charged with violence and attempted murder."

Rose stamped on the foot of the man holding her, trying to get away. When she heard what Jack was accused of, she nearly screamed in frustration. "He didn't try to kill you and you know it! He just hit you! How dare you! GET OFF ME, GODDAMNIT!"

Rose had had enough. She wanted to get away from this man, she wanted to go to Jack, she wanted Cal to evaporate and leave them alone. She picked up her foot and kicked as hard as she could where she could reach. She was struggling madly; the man could hardly keep his grip on her. He finally hit her hard on the temple with his gun; she dropped to the ground as he let go of her.

Jack was ready to kill watching all of this. If God would have granted him enough strength to do so, he would have broken out of his handcuffs and mauled all four men. But God wasn't feeling generous towards Jack today. He had given him his love back, but that was all Jack was getting, it seemed. Memories of a few mere hours with her. However Jack was no weakling; he too struggled wildly. But, with his hands tied behind his back he couldn't do much. He did manage to kick one where the sun don't shine, and that disabled him for a while. Maybe he wouldn't be able to reproduce, thought Jack hopefully.

But eventually, the two other men overpowered him. He was locked in a room, empty of everything. He felt a creeping sense of déjà vu. The last time he had been charged for a crime and locked up it had been on a ship condemned to sink. And he also couldn't shake the feeling that the last time Rose had nearly believed them. This time it wasn't like that; they had to knock her out to stop her from fighting for him. That thought warmed his heart. But there was still the fact that he was locked in a room with his hands chained and no way of getting out until the boat reached New York. And then he'd be sentenced to jail, at best. At worst... he didn't want to think about it.

He didn't know how long he'd been in there when the door opened. He looked up dull eyed, expecting it to be Cal or one of his men. But he was surprised at the sight of Molly, the woman who had taken care of him before.

"Mr. Dawson-" she said but he interrupted her.

"Jack," he corrected.

"Fine, Jack, I heard two men talking about how they had locked you in here for attempted murder. I was about to tell them that you wouldn't nearly have enough strength to kill someone, when I decided against it and just came here to get you out. What did you do to that man to make him hate you like that?"

What had he done? "Well, for one, I stole his fiancé. That pissed him off all right. I'm a poor guy, so he thinks I don't deserve her. I punched him a couple of times for hitting Rose. The girl," he quickly explained at the confused look on her face.

"Well that don't sound like attempted murder, but that would not be the best thing to do. So when did he come and lock you up?"

"Around sunset. Rose and I had gone to the front of the boat, and they came. Rose put up and amazing fight. But then one man knocked her out and..." his voice trailed off, but Molly looked as though she understood.

Then her face changed. "Rose... Rose... I know I know that name... I think I was helping the doctor who examined her. Red hair? Pale skin? Blue-green eyes?" He nodded for each of the questions. "She looked pretty upset. Her eyes were all red. And she had nearly frozen. Do you know where they took her? I can find her. But I have to get you out of here first..."

She took out a hairpin and picked the lock on his handcuffs. In about a minute she had undid the lock. "They have no right to chain you up for something like that. Are they English?"

"No, but that won't stop them," was his reply.

"Well, they will be in America, as soon as they get to New York, so the laws of England, or wherever they were will no longer apply. You have the right to a fair trial, as you very well know."

"Yeah, I know, but you I wouldn't put it past Cal to have me killed or something. Yes, I know he's horrible," Jack said quickly at the look on her face.

"Well, stay in here, I'll get... What was her name? Rose?" At his nod, she then said, "Does she go by any last name?"

"DeWitt Bukator."

"Thanks."

"No," Jack said meaningfully, "thank you. So much. And Molly? If she doesn't believe you, start singing 'Come, Josephine on my flying machine...' Do you know it?"

"Yes," she said, confusion written all over her face, "But why-?"

"Just do it. Thanks again." He turned away from her.

"I'm going to lock the door so they don't know you're out. I'll get Rose then come back with her. And when she comes, I'm going to get you two an empty room, so the man... Cal, you said his name was? Won't find you. Ok. Bye."

What a good woman. She couldn't be much older than he was, maybe the same age. She was so nice. And understanding. With the comfort of knowing he'll see Rose in less than an hour at most, the time passed quickly.

Rose came around with a furious pounding in her head. Her first thought was for Jack. Was he hurt? Then she remembered: Jack being put in cuffs, torn from her. Then one of the men had knocked her out...

Had they already gotten to New York? That question was immediately answered, for she felt the engine rumbling below her.

She had been sitting for quite awhile, thinking hard, when the door opened. It was dark on deck, but she could just make out the shape of a woman.

"Miss DeWitt Bukator?"

**You hate me, right? I know, I know... But I had to do it! The chapter just kept going and going... But I finally updated! YAY! And on the side, Molly is NOT in love with Jack. And nor Jack with her. Molly is just a nice person doing some good, and Jack is gone. Long gone. For Rose. And she for him. Yay. Pokiefulness. Ok, moving along...**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!! No flames. Flames will be used to grill that plot bunny so I can eat it for dinner. All-caps only accepted if you thought the story was really good (I doubt it) and you just can't get it out on the screen and all you can manage is...**

**IHUHIGJBNGJGFDTUR&)(&&&) OMFG SOSOSOSOSO SSOOOOOOO GOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!WRWTRIUG&RQ#YRP(YFHAFPAUSD"AQAWIQHAFA654876546e6**

**I know I've done it before. Yeah, so... Always eat you veggies! Or whatever we were talking about...**

**_Beahavah_ ('with love' in Hebrew),**

**Arnie**


	4. Finding Jack

**Here is the next chappie. I hope everybody likes it. I spent class time writing this. I hope you're grateful. Especially Meytal, thewickedwitchofthewest93, who is now my beta for the _Titanic_ fandom. Yeah, she badgered me so much, she was like, "Pick up a pen and take our a sheet of paper and write!!" It was cray-zee. **

**Ok, so yeah, I own nothing. I wish I do, but I don't. I don't have anything those people want either. **

**Oh and before I start, I have one message: I apologize for any typos I may make and not correct in this story. I reread my stories looking for errors, but I probably won't do that until later, so tell me if you see a typo, other than the ones that it's painfully obvious that they're on purpose.**

Rose was shocked. Someone had just said her name. Her last name but her name nonetheless. And the woman actually pronounced it right.

"Who are you?" she asked, cautious.

"Molly Conner. I'm a nurse who was watching Jack Dawson. I checked you too, remember? He's locked in a room. I unlocked his handcuffs, but I left the room locked so no one would know I had been there. I had heard that he had been locked up, and I went to help. He's very nice. He's tall, blonde, and pale. But I'm sure that's just because he swam to the boats and was in freezing water for hours with no protection. He's about twenty... does this ring a bell?"

"Yes..." Rose replied, voice trailing off. She was still a bit disoriented and confused. Either she was telling the truth and Jack had sent her here, or she was lying and Cal had sent her here.

"Look, if you didn't believe me, he said I should start singing 'Come Josephine in my flying machine going up she goes, up she goes-"

Rose immediately said, "I believe you." Even Cal didn't know about 'their' song.

Molly's face brightened. "All right. Now that that is settled, we need to move, and fast. I've gotten you two a room, but I would advise you not to leave it once I take you there. Jack tells me this Cal guy will be after his life if he finds out that you two got out. He will find out though. But he doesn't have to find out where you are. The room locks from inside, so you will be relatively safe, unless Cal decides to break the door down, which is against the law."

Rose was so grateful she could barely speak. Here was a woman who was willing to risk quite a lot for someone she knew for a few hours and his girlfriend. If Cal found out she had helped them, he'd be after her life too. Rose hoped Molly knew that.

"You're not safe in the room where Jack is locked, or in here. We have to get you to the rooms I found without anyone noticing. That will be a job in and of itself. Then I will go get Jack and you two will stay till the end of the voyage to New York, then Cal won't bother you. I might though. I need more friends."

"Thank you, thank you so much..."

"Don't mention it. We need to hurry. Come on, quickly."

It was a miracle they were able to get to the room without any of Cal's people noticing. When they did, Molly said, "Make sure you lock it. I will knock four times, then twice to let you know it's me. No scary guessing in this game."

"Thank you so so much, how can we ever-"

"I need to go. Anyway, frantic thank-yous scare me."

Rose smiled and closed the door as Molly left, locking it securely. She didn't want someone bursting in on her. Least of whom Cal. She sat down on the bed and stared around while she waited for Molly and Jack.

----------------------------

Molly walked along the deck, heading towards the room where Jack was being held.

As she neared the room, she noticed something was wrong. There were no people walking here. She rounded the corner into the hallway where the room was, and a man was standing right near the door, leaning against the wall. He straightened and asked, "What are you doing here, girl?"

Remembering that, to him, she looked like a member of the _Carpathia's _crew, she lied, "I'm doing rounds to make sure everything is in order and as it should be."

The man sneered. Molly held her blonde head high, looking the man straight in the eye.

"You know what?" he asked, superior smile still pasted on his lips, "I don't think you should be here."

She was trying to be polite as possible, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. "Are you a _Titanic_ survivor?"

It was a perfectly justified question. It was also completely necessary. Anyway, he had a high-class accent (if that exists) and his perfect suit looked as if it had been ruined by water.

"And what if I am?" he said snottily. She almost thought he wasn't a survivor. Most survivors looked haunted and sad. He didn't. Even the passengers on the Carpathia were shaken by a thing they had only heard about. This man looked like he had no problems. Like the _Titanic_ was not sitting, in pieces, at the bottom of the ocean with thousands of frozen people. But he had to be a survivor.

"If you are," she answered, completely cool to his superiority, "then you don't have any right to tell me where I can or cannot go. You have no right to any of the rooms on this boat, unless loaned to you by their passengers. Since that is not the case, I have every right to go in there and do my job."

He hit her across the face then shoved her to the ground. "Do not question me!" he snarled, looking for all the world like a spoiled dog confronting someone who had eaten out of its food dish. "I can do worse to you than you can to me! What can you do anyway? Report me to your captain?"

He would have continued to rant, if his shouting had not brought a cabin boy who was a friend of Molly's by the name of Joe. He ran over to her and helped her up. She was still sitting on the floor where the man had pushed her. She didn't need the help, but it looked like she needed to be brought back to her senses. Joe asked her what had happened, and she told him. The man was led away by Joe, but the only punishment he would get would be a fine, no problem for someone of his apparent wealth.

She walked over to the room. No doubt Jack had heard everything. She opened the door and stopped dead.

The room was completely empty. Jack was gone. Molly's stomach turned over when she saw there was a bloodstain on the floor.

Then the truth came rushing over her, so sudden it nearly knocked her down again.

That man had been Cal. He had had Jack moved, then stood 'guard' on the empty room and tried to prevent people from figuring out the truth. Jack was either somewhere else on the boat or... She didn't want to think about it. While transporting him, Jack must have hurt one of the men, or they had hurt him. Whoever had taken the wound, it was a bad one. She needed to go back and tell Rose what happened, then they needed to think of a new plan.

She walked back, knocked four times, then twice, and the door immediately opened. Rose's face was lit up, then fell when she saw Jack wasn't with Molly. Rose ushered her inside and Molly quickly told her the whole story (leaving out the bloodstain; it would have given Rose a heart attack). Rose confirmed that the man had been Cal from the description Molly had given her.

When Molly finished talking, Rose whispered, "We have to find Jack. Who knows what they'll do to him?" Molly could tell that her mind was thinking up the worst case scenario, not very good if they wanted to think up a plan.

"I'm going to be the one who ends up doing the finding. You need to stay here, or I might never see you again. You'd be married to Cal in a heartbeat. And Jack will be dead." At the horror on Rose's face, Molly quickly said "I'm sorry. I'm too blunt. That probably wouldn't happen, but you aren't the only one think up worst case scenarios."

Rose forced a smile and nodded, but she didn't seem very convinced. Molly cursed her fat mouth.

"Anyway," she said hurriedly, "I'm going to go try to find where he's being held now. As soon as you are off this boat there isn't much he can do to you, but we have to find Jack before the boat docks, or God knows what will happen to him."

Molly left, and Rose locked the door, sat down, and sighed. She hated sitting helpless while other people did the things that mattered. For all intents and purposes, right now, she was just here to look decorative. She sniggered when she looked in the mirror. She did not look the least bit pretty. Her face was pale, her hair was messy, and her clothes were ragged. But before she was only there to look nice, not to be of any use. It was a wonder Cal wanted her so badly.

_Jack doesn't see you as just pretty,_ said a voice at the back of her head, **(A/N- Rose is NOT schizophrenic)** _Jack knows that you are more that first class allows you to be._

As soon as Molly found Jack, and the two of them got off this God-forsaken boat, away from Cal, she would do something constructive. She would not just be a delicate little flower anymore.

As Rose was comforting herself with these thoughts, Molly was beginning to panic. She had been searching for ten minutes, and still had not even found a clue. She had searched the whole top deck, and half the second. Then it hit her. She felt totally stupid for no thinking of it before. He wouldn't be towards the top. He would be held near the bottom.

She immediately took a flight of stairs all the way to the bottom deck, just above the engine room. She began searching from the bottom up. On the second t last deck, she found it. A man was standing in front of a door with a lock on the outside. This had to be it. One comforting thought was that Cal wouldn't guard a dead body. The thought made her shudder.

She immediately thought of a plan. It was so simple, yet so dangerous. She went quickly back to Rose's room. She knocked, and as soon as rose opened it and she was inside she asked her one thing before telling her the plan.

"Rose, can you run fast?" Rose nodded, and Molly shocked the other girl with on sentence. A simple one, really. It was amazing how much effect a few words strung together cold have on someone.

"Good, because Jack's life, and your freedom, depend on it."

**You hate me, don't you? Don't worry, I'll do my best to update again tonight. You won't be waiting so long. I hope. Thanks to Meytal, however grudgingly, who looked over this and told me it didn't suck. She did not hesitate in telling me how much she hated me for the end of this chapter, though. She wanted to read the next one as I wrote it. Sorry, Moo-Mey. Not this time. **

**Tootles! (gotta love and hate Sharpay Evans...)**

**Jennarnoldthefemalepurplepygmypuff (the one and only)**


	5. The Plan Didn't Go As Planned

**Here is the next chappie of He Returns. If you can think of a bette name, please tell me, by way of review or private message. Ok, lets get this show on the road, people!**

**I own nothing. Wish I did. gosh, I say that very chapter. I own the Pirates of the Caribbean T-shirt I'm wearing. That's about it. **

**Again, sorry in advance for typos. Tell me if you see anything.**

Rose couldn't believe she was actually doing this. This was crazy. It wouldn't work. But it was their only hope. If this didn't work, they were screwed, to use Jack's terminology.

She was around the corner from the room where Jack was being held. This was definitely the place. The man who was standing guard was the man who had separated her from Jack.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She'd never do it if she thought about how dangerous this was. Without waiting another second, she stepped around the corner and began walking down the corridor.

The man saw her, and his eyes widened in recognition. He was silent in shock for a moment. Then rose couldn't take it anymore, and started running. "You! Girl! Rose! STOP!" he yelled, and began to chase after her.

-------------------

As soon as they were out of sight, Molly rushed to the door, picked the lock, opened the door, and saw the room and stopped dead. It was empty.

-------------------

Rose was beginning to tire. She had run up two flights of stairs, and now they were on the third deck. But if she was growing weary, her pursuer definitely was. She chanced a look back, and he was sweating and gasping.

She wasn't going to take the chance of him catching her though. She sprinted to a door. Luck was on her side; the door wasn't locked.

She just had time to lock it before he slammed into it. Knowing she was safe until he left and ran for Cal, she turned around and had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming.

Jack was lying, unconscious, on the floor, bruised and bloody. She ran over to him and tried to shake him awake. He didn't even stir. Tears started rolling down her cheeks.

"Jack," she whispered, "Jack, please wake up." He was alive, but that was only because he was a survivor. He was fighting. As long as he did that, he would live. He wouldn't give up easily. Rose hoped. The keys to the room were hanging in a cabinet. She grabbed them and sat down on the floor, holding Jack, to wait for the man to go get Cal. Then she would leave, go get Molly, and the both of them would carry Jack to the room, and they would be relatively safe.

The second the sound receded, Rose got up and crossed to the door. "I'll be back soon," she whispered to Jack's lifeless body, and left the room, after locking it.

Molly was still standing in the doorway of the empty room in shock when Rose found her. "Molly," she said softly, and her friend was jolted back to Earth, "Jack's practically dead in a room on the third deck. I found it when that man was chasing me. The man went for Cal, but he might not be back by now. I need your help to get Jack to the room you have for us."

Within seconds they were running up the stairs to the fourth deck, and another minute and they were in front of the door. Rose quickly unlocked the door. Hesitation now would mean Cal would find them. They grabbed Jack and started, noticeably slower, going towards the room where Molly had found for them. They were going as fast as they could, quite a speed. Jack was abnormally thin, but he was fit. The muscle added to his weight, so it was amazing they could go this fast. It was good it was lunchtime. Most people weren't around to see this. Those who did just thought someone had been gravely injured and he was being taken to the doctor and backed out of their way.

The room was on the third deck, thank God, and they made it there not a moment too soon. Cal must have ordered the boat searched for Jack. They could hear him and his men walking around as they passed their door. but they wouldn't go into people's rooms.

They rested Jack on the bed. "He looks really bad," said Molly, checking him all over for more wounds. Thee were a few on his chest, but they weren't so bad. The real bad news was his head, neck and shoulders. There was a cut in his shoulder that was caked with dried blood. "That's a knife cut. Pocketknife, most likely. And that," she pointed to the various bruises over his face and neck, "are most likely from a fist than anything else. If someone had hit him that hard with metal, there probably would have been bleeding. He put up a good fight."

Rose didn't doubt a single word from the blonde woman. She was a nurse, after all. But she was horrified at what they had done to Jack. How was she ever supposed to love a man who could hate so much? Let alone the man she had given her whole heart to.

Molly broke the silence. "I need to go get some bandages, and some disinfectant. And possibly something for those bruises. For now, get a cloth from the bathroom and do the best you can with that cut. If he wakes up before I get back, which it unlikely, ask him what happened. If he can't remember you when he first sees you, don't panic. Give him about two minutes, he'll remember. It's highly unlikely, but he may have a concussion."

Rose immediately did as she was told. Molly left, and right after she left, Rose locked the door and went back to cleaning off his cut. This was something useful. This was how she liked to spend her time. Doing something productive.

-------------------

Molly got the things she needed, trying to stay out of sight of the men looking around the ship. There was one particularly heart-stopping moment where Cal nearly saw her. Molly had managed to duck out of sight just in time. She hurried more after that incident.

When she knocked on the door, it took Rose a second to come to the door. In that second, one of the men working for Cal saw her. Rose opened the door, but the man didn't see her. But he was sure to tell Cal that he saw a blonde crewgirl with a ton of first aid stuff going into a room.

Jack still hadn't woken up. The first thing Molly did was finish cleaning the cut on his shoulder. "He'll have a scar there for quite some time, if not forever. You can't do much for bruises, but a few of them are swelled. I have ice to help with that. I'll check his head to make sure that there is not concussion."

And she did just that, while Rose held bags of ice on the worst of the swellings. She did this for what seemed like hours. It might have been hours. Rose was only vaguely aware of it when Molly announced that he had no concussion. She was just concentrating on holding the ice steady, and praying for him to wake up. The last time this had happened, he nearly hadn't.

She was holding the ice bag to the last swelling when he finally came to. His eyes opened slowly, then he groaned.

"My head... ow... Rose?" He noticed her. It took all the restraint she possessed to stop her from hugging and kissing him.

"Yes, Jack, it's me... We're so glad you're awake... Molly and I..."

"Molly's here?" Rose nodded. "Where is she?" Molly had been standing back, giving the two of them their space and time. Now she stepped forward and said, "Welcome back. You gave us quite the scare. You will be pleased to know that you aren't severely injured. One cut on the shoulder that might give you a scar for life, but other than that, only bruises. You were extremely lucky, again. If Rose had found you an hour or so later, that cut might have gotten infected and you might have been beyond saving."

Jack nodded. The idea of that scared him a bit. But he had cheated death twice. That was something. It was good to know that he hadn't been lying to Rose when he said he was a survivor.

"What on earth happened to you that you got beaten up so badly? Rose asked, horrified. Jack smiled. She was losing her perfect English. All this hanging around with him and Molly was rubbing off on her. She would fit right in when they got to America.

"Well, I was just sitting in there after you left, waiting for you to come back. Then Hockley came in and tried to grab me to take me to another room, or something. I guess he wanted to keep you from finding me. He hadn't realized that I wasn't handcuffed anymore. The second her grabbed me, I hit him somewhere that disabled him for a while. Self defense, you know. While he was down, I made a break for the door. But he had brought some of his friends. They caught me, but they knew that I wasn't chained. After all, they're not blind. It would have made my life _so_ much easier."

Rose smiled at the small joke, but she felt if he stopped he wouldn't be able to keep going, so she remained silent.

"I fought with them too. I may be pretty good at defending myself, but I can't fight when it's five to one. At least, not for very long. That's where I got some of my bruises. Finally one of them hit me in the collarbone and I was temporarily stunned. They took the advantage and dragged me to another room. They didn't bother to lock it. They said something about a decoy, because by then I think they knew that Rose had escaped from the room she had been held in... You don't know how relieved I was when I found ou you were ok."

"Yu don't know how relieved we are to know that you're alive," Rose burst out, "At least he wasn't going to harm _me_."

"Yeah, well. I finally was able to move, and I started to fight them again. One of them knifed me. I kicked him in the stomach, but there were more of them. I think I managed to black a few eyes before I went unconscious. Either one of them knocked me out, or it was from the blood loss. I think you pretty much know the rest, 'cause I sure don't. I blacked out, and wake up here."

The two women filled him in on what they had done, saying it from both of their points of view. When they finished, Molly left to go get them some food.

It had been a few minutes after she had left, Jack said, "I think I can stand up."

Rose opened her mouth to tell him not to, but he was already sitting up and pulling himself off the bed. He looked much better on his feet. He looked so wrong, lying in bed, helpless. He looked stronger standing up, more in his element. Then he kissed her, and any worries were driven out of her head. When he pulled back, Rose started sobbing into his shoulder.

"I thought you were going to die! I was so afraid, and what Molly said only made it worse..."

"Rose, it's fine, I'm fine, and soon we'll be off this stupid ship and we'll put a few hundred miles between us and Cal, and he won't bother us again."

They at on the edge of the bed, his arms around her, comforting her. They had been sitting like that for a while when they heard to sharp knocks on the door. Rose tensed up. It wasn't the knock she and Molly had agreed on. She put a finger to her lips to tell Jack to be quiet. He obeyed, not making a move or sound. She did the same, as another three knocks were made on the door. The person obviously gave up, because they heard no more knocks, but they heard knocks on other doors. Probably announcing dinner. Then they heard four knocks, then two, and Rose got up and let Molly in. She had food, and all three of them ate.

Jack told Molly abut the knocking. Molly told them not to worry. The person didn't try to force entry, she reasoned, so they shouldn't worry about that right now.

"Anyway, we are docking in New York tomorrow. You will be able to really get Cal out of your lives. I personally might leave New York. I might even come with you where you're going, wherever that is. I need to get away from New York. That's where I've lived my whole life, and I haven't really seen any more of the States."

"We'd love for you to come with us," said Rose, while Jack nodded in agreement.

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

Jack and Rose both knew she wanted to stay with them for their own benefit, not hers. They appreciated it, but they let Molly think that her bluff had worked.

She left, telling them that she would come back tomorrow when the ship would be drawing into the harbor.

Rose was locking the door when, finally, the day's events caught up with her. She nearly dropped to the floor in exhaustion. She made it to the bed and collapsed onto it. Jack took off her shoes and pulled the blanket over her, and waited for sleep to come for him. There was finally peace, after so many emotions and actions. He hoped there would be more of this kind of moment in the future.

**I ended the chappie better this time. Jack it ok. Yay! I hope all of you knew I wasn't gonna kill him. If you thought that, you obviously don't know me at all. Well, that's two pretty long chapters in one night. That is pretty darn impressive. I hope you're all happy. Review please! I forgot to ask last chappie. Ok, so I'll update as soon as possible. Meytal, now you can't kill me. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! None of you except for Mey-Mey will get that. Whatever. If you think any of the characters are experiencing OOCD (out of character disorder) plese tell me, and I will try to fix it.**

**Bye Bye! (again)**

**Jenn**


	6. Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin

**Hey guys! I'm really doing well with not keeping you waiting to long! Yay for me!!! Ok, so this is kind of just a bliss chappie, no real drama. Cal is in it, but I decided to give our dynamic trio a break. There will be chappies like this every so often. So yeah. Let's get it started!**

**I own nada. So I write on fanfiction. I write only on hotel paper... jk. I loooooooove Michelle Branch. She is DA BOMB!!!! WAHOO!!!!!!**

**Also, I hope you like my Chippewa Falls explanation. I really have no idea what it is, or if it even exists. I had to look t up to make sure it was even Chippewa. My friend kept on saying it was, like, Chipperwood, or something. Anyway, I really didn't feel like going online and seeing what Chippewa was. So I let my imagination take me away. God, that is so sappy...**

Rose woke up to Molly shaking her. "Come on!" she exclaimed, sounding very much like an overexcited ten year old, **(A/N- No offence to all of you ten year olds reading this... even though this story _is_ rated T... naughty naughty... Santa won't give you any presents... haha)** "We're docking in a few minutes!"

Rose was immediately wide awake. "What's the time?"

"Eight o'clock. Now hurry up, get up!" Molly left, telling Rose to come up to the first deck when she was ready.

Rose got up, quickly washed her face, and went up to the first deck. Jack was already up thee, and she got up just in time to see Molly disappear to do last-minute jobs. Jack wasn't paying attention to anything around him. He was staring up at something. She followed his gaze and saw it. A huge pillar of copper that symbolized the freedom and tolerance of the country they were entering. Something Rose and Jack had come so close to never seeing again. The Statue of Liberty.

There were tears rolling down her face and she didn't notice until Jack wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back to Earth.

"Welcome home, Rose."

-------------------

After a little confusion, the boat docked and first class passengers got off in all their finery. Rose shuddered to think she had just barely escaped getting off like that. She wouldn't miss that life at all. She would really live now.

The _Titanic_ passengers were supposed to get off last, to minimize the inability to find loved ones in confusion. Despite this, Rose saw Cal's retreating back down the gangway. He must have bribed someone to get off with the first class passengers, where he belonged. And he really did. He belonged with the snotty, overstiff, first class passengers who only cared about their money. It was a rash generalization, but Rose had seen enough of high classmen to know that it was true most of the time.

Second class got off, followed by third. Trailing after the third class passengers were the _Titanic_ survivors, looking lost. They had lost nearly everything: clothes, jewelry, money, family, all at the bottom of the ocean now. But there was new hope for them in America, even for those who had lost all. This county was their only ray of light for the future. And how bright it shone. Even though Rose and Jack were both Americans, they felt it, too.

In the bustle of getting off, Rose held fast to Jack's hand so they wouldn't be separated. They had no family waiting for them here, so they went off to the side to wait for Molly, who was resigning her position to come with them. Jack had also made her promise to complain to the captain about how he let Cal rule the ship, nearly killing Jack in the process. Of course, that was his goal, but that didn't make it right. Classes still existed in America, but everyone has the Constitutional right to a fair trial.

As soon as Molly found them, the three of them went to a train station, walking calmly through the crowd of _Titanic_ survivors and frantic relatives searching for loved ones.

Cal was among the searching. He had gotten off the ship first so he could blend in with the crowd looking for survivors. He was doing his best to find Rose and Dawson, **(A/N- He really shouldn't be repetitive... lol)** whom he would have thought would stick out, yet the only people who seemed to be doing so were the first classmen in their fancy, ruined clothing. His fiancé and that gutter rat would look like every other steerage passenger.

Or not. The boy might blend in, but she was wearing a white dress. And his coat. And she happened to have bright red hair. He just might be able to spot her.

He scanned the crowd. Nothing. _Fool,_ he scolded himself, _she would think to hide her clothing and hair. She knows she would stick out if she did not._

Then, at the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of dirty blonde. He looked again and saw a woman walking next to two people covered in blankets. They were survivors, even if the woman was not. Even so, that hair looked familiar...

She had been the woman doing 'rounds' near were they had been holding the boy before Cal had him moved. She had seemed suspicious to him, trying very hard to get into the room he did his best to keep her from. He hadn't succeeded, and she had gotten into the room. He hadn't thought much of it then, but now it hit him with a whole new meaning, almost harder than Jack ever had.

She was helping the two to get away. And that was them. That _woman_ was going to go down with the two of them. More like, she was doing to go down with Jack, while Rose would live happily with him. He would always get what he wanted.

He sneered at their retreating backs. He motioned to two of his men and pointed at the trio. They nodded in understanding and began their mission. _The perfect plan,_ he thought smugly, _Caladan Hockley is always one step ahead._

-------------------

The three used some of the money Cal had stuffed into the coat to buy tickets to New York. They got regular tickets, although they could afford more expensive tickets. All three of them agreed they felt more at home in lower classes. Rose was especially passionate about this. Especially if Cal was following them, he would get a fancy room. They just got three seats next to each other, on a train headed for Wisconsin. That was all they needed.

As the train started moving, Rose mulled over how fortunate she and Jack were. After a practically horrible few days, they finally had some peace. They were also lucky to have a friend like Molly. She was the best thing they could wish for.

Rose fell asleep leaning against Jack. Molly was leaning on her shoulder, and Jack was using the window as a pillow, and had a near-death grip on Rose.

-------------------

The train ride was nearly two days **(A/N- That might not be completely accurate, but whatever)**. When they got to Wisconsin, the train station looked almost exactly like the one in New York, except less busy, and the people there looked more farmer-type. But things really changed when they stepped outside.

Wisconsin was gorgeous! Jack was grinning broadly. He should be; he was finally coming home after five years.

"Welcome home, Jack," Rose whispered in his ear. He nodded then kissed her. He seemed ecstatic.

Molly couldn't say a word. Rose couldn't blame her. She also grew up a city-girl in New York as well, so she and Molly felt exactly the same. This was coming home for Jack, but this was totally new to the two girls. It was a little overwhelming.

There were rolling hills, and everything was green. The sun was shining and it seemed like heaven on Earth. The dirty blonde had trouble figuring out why Jack had left here.

But one of the most amazing things was how much Jack blended in. The years he spent away from here had not changed the looks he had had for fifteen years.

Unbeknownst to them, Cal's two men were watching their every move, memorizing it to tell Cal later, occasionally writing notes on a pad. The one of the men took the pad and his knowledge and bought a train ticket back to New York, while the other man followed them on a bus to Chippewa Falls.

"It's basically four rivers that all fall off a mountain in the form of waterfall and they all merge into one river at the bottom of the falls. There's a forest next to it called the Chippewa Forest; no one knows which was named first," Jack explained, "My house is on the other side of the forest, right where the trees start to get thick. We were out of the general community. There's a whole neighborhood called Chippewa, that's definitely named after the falls and the forest. The actual falls are gorgeous."

"I'm sure," muttered Molly. Those were practically the first words she had said since they had gotten there. She had been too absorbed looking at the country. "Everything is gorgeous here."

"Yeah," he murmured in agreement, "but this is better. You absolutely have to see them. Our stop."

They got off the bus. It was a seemingly normal street in a seemingly normal neighborhood. There was a nice sign that said 'Welcome to Chippewa'.

"My dad made that. Took him a nice long time, too. I helped a bit, but I was only ten, so I imagine I must have been a bit more of a nuisance than a help."

The two women chuckled. They were walking through the neighborhood, looking around at all the different houses.

"The forest starts in a few blocks, but my house is a bit closer. It belongs to me. My parents left me everything in their will. A lot of this neighborhood was burned down, but it never had time to reach my house. My parents died in it though, because my dad had been working and my mom was going to get him to bring him home, because he was taking too long. That was because of the fire. It had started in the shop where he worked."

Both of them were silent as he relieved this bit of his past to them. It looked like he had wanted to have someone to say it to for years. Pain and relief were mixed in his face. Rose reached for his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. He had lost so much in his lifetime, and he still was an amazing person. Things had turned for the worst for him, and he kept going on. He had lost his parents, then his home, then his friends on the _Titanic_. She had been in a similar situation; her life had started going downhill and had kept rolling down, and she had tried to kill herself. And Jack, who had gone through much more pain of his own, saved her. In ever way possible.

Now that he had gotten started sucking the poison out, he couldn't stop. He needed to get it all of in one go. All he needed from them was to listen.

"I wasn't born an only child. I was actually a twin, but she died shortly after her birth. Mom told me how close I had come to dying along with her. We were small, **(A/N- Did the idea of premature exist back then? Were they able to tell? Well, if not, that's what he means)** too small. Thankfully I was ok. I think I have my twin to thank for that. She took the worst of it. I also had a younger sister. She was always a bit fragile. She hated being called that. She was jealous of me. I would always tell her how I had been a tiny younger kid and how I had gotten bigger. She was about four years younger than me. She was really dispirited about being so weak. After our parents died, things just went horrible. She got really sick. I think it was partially out of shock. Her body couldn't take it. She got worse after that. Within about a week, she had died. I admit, I left because I really couldn't take being in this place. I also realized life was too short to waste. I could die at any minute, so I knew I had to live life to its fullest. I spent the first week on my own crying, though. It was awful. Coming back here does kind of trigger all the memories."

Both girls were crying for the fifteen year old Jack. Jack was nearly crying himself. But he seriously looked much better than he had before he had told them. Rose couldn't help but think he had never told anyone that bit of his past before. Both Rose and Molly felt touched that he decided to share it with them.

By then, they had reached a two story house. It was a whitewashed, elegant house, for all that it looked like it was cheap.

"My grandfather made this house when he first came here, about fifty ears ago," Jack said, completely calm. He looked really proud of it. For someone with small funds, his grandfather was some architect.

They quickly toured the house. Jack was silent, obviously soaking in memories from years ago. There was a kitchen, some kind of sitting room, and a bedroom. On the top floor were more bedrooms. There was also an attic with a slanted ceiling. It was some kind of storage space. It was full of boxes.

"Hey Jack," called Molly from the attic, "what's in the boxes? Can I look? D'you mind?"

"No, I think its just stuff we didn't use anymore. There's a ton of stuff I put in there after Ellie died."

Ellie could only have been his sister.

Molly was looking through a box that had been marked 'Jack'. She was going from bottom to top, which seemed to be chronological order. There was his birth certificate, and various toys. But closer to the top of the box were a huge box of colored pencils and a lot of really good drawings.

"I got into drawing when I was about five. Of course, then it was scribbling in the dirt outside with a sick. But I was so obsessed with it and my parents could tell that I loved it so much, they saved up for months to buy me those colored pencils and a huge pad of paper for my eighth birthday. I was so happy; the first thing I drew was them. That's it there."

He pointed to an elaborately colored drawing of a man with black hair and blue eyes standing next to a woman with green eyes and light blonde hair.

"I think, personally, I went a little nuts with the colors. I was too excited. See the background?" He pointed at the millions of colors he had colored behind his parents. "I gave it to them. When they died, I put it up here."

Molly gaped at him. "You did this when you were _eight_?"

Jack just smiled like he had when Rose had told him he had a gift. It was his way of taking compliment.

"There's one of my sis," he said, "She was gorgeous. She looked like a miniature version of my mom. I was just a crazy mixture of the two of them."

He was gesturing to a picture of a girl who did look remarkably like the other woman in the picture. She had the same blonde hair, same green eyes, and pale skin littered with freckles. She was sitting, smiling gorgeously.

"Jack, you saw the world in a nice way. Everything is so bright," commented Molly.

"I was a little kid. Plus, I loved those pencils."

"You should have been there to see what he did before now, in Europe. They're a little more adult** (A/N- cough, cough)**, but they were gorgeous. But now they're now locked away in a safe at the bottom of the ocean."

Silence stretched between the three of them. They were all looking at Jack's past. Jack was the one to break the silence.

"Let's go see the falls. We can look at the rest of these later."

The girls nodded, then all three of then got up ant left the house. Jack led them straight into the forest itself. There was no apparent path, but Jack, after a minute or two's recalling, seemed to know where he was going. They went slowly, but that didn't bother anyone. If they hadn't been so lost in thought they would have noticed someone keeping to the shadows behind them. But they were, so they didn't.

After about ten minutes, they all heard the unmistakable sound of rushing water.

"This," he said dramatically, leading them past a final clump of trees, "is Chippewa Falls."

Four huge waterfalls soared over the edges of their various cliffs, pounding into the same pool that lengthened and became a river that stretched through the trees and wound out of sight. The mist spewed up by the water reached them, even though they were a good way away from it. Molly could count several rainbows in the haze.

Rose couldn't catch her breath. "It's beautiful..." her voice trailed off.

Jack was grinning. "I told you. This was my favorite place just to sit and think, or read, or draw. I was never able to draw the falls, though. I might be able to now."

"I'm sure you could, judging by what you did when you were eight." She would never give that one up.

"Thanks, Molly," he replied. Rose would never understand how they became friends so fast. Molly and Rose were close by now, but they had merely bonded over trying to save Jack. Oh, well. It didn't make any sense. She had learned to trust that sort of thing.

**Well, did you like? I think the next chappie I'll give them a nice, bliss chappie, then Cal will come in and ruin it. Don't you hate it when Arnold gets dramaful? Once you get me going, there's a fat chance of stopping me. This story will go on for a while.**

**Thank you to all my supporters/reviewers, if you wanna keep that status, then I would suggest clicking the little lavender-grey box with the word 'submit review' next to it... go on... you know you want to...**

**Mwah!**

**Jennarnold**


	7. Overexcited Molly

**I think I'm doing pretty well with this whole 'updating' thing. I'm getting these things out pretty fast. Whoa. Sweet. **

**Ok, this is called a 'sappy chappie'. It basically means that everything is basically perfect. So was last ones, kinda, but Cal was in it. I might mix it up a little at the end though. You'll just have to read and see, now won't you?**

**I own nothing, I have nothing that you want, and no you cannot have my goldfish! (jk, I don't even _have_ a goldfish...)**

Life had finally gotten good. Molly stayed in the house, doing stuff a housewife would, but of course, she wasn't married. She liked the term 'housekeeper' but Rose and Jack refused to call her that because it was her house too, she was their friend, and she was not their employee. Not that she would have accepted payment, anyway.

Rose wanted to do something, so she got a job at a woodcarving shop in the main neighborhood (Chippewa was more like a town but its inhabitants were so close to one another people kept calling it a neighborhood). The man who ran the store was eager for help, and he would have someone show her what to do so she could actually make something. But until then, she was the person at the counter. She was mainly supporting the three of them, and it made her feel wonderful. If Molly had extra of something or other she would sell it, but Rose was doing the main job.

Because of Rose, Jack could virtually do whatever he wanted. He drew near where Rose was working. Anything that would stay still for long enough for him to commit it to memory, he would draw. People would occasionally come and watch him, and sometimes they wanted to buy one of his portraits. He would sell it to them for any price as long as it wasn't horribly under or over priced. He even had a few people ask him to draw portraits for them.

Their lives were nearly perfect. **(A/N- I only say nearly because nothing is really perfect)** Each was doing what they wanted to. But one thing was missing.

Jack had been saving what he had been earning for the past two months to buy Rose a ring. He wanted nothing now but to marry her. No Cal to stop them, no classes separating them. He loved her with everything he had, and he knew she felt exactly the same.

He got her a simple silver band with a diamond in it. It was one of the cheaper ones. No matter how many of them were working or how much money they were getting, they weren't rich. And rings were expensive.

Rose came home in good spirits. The man who owned the shop where she worked said that tomorrow someone would be able to show her the basics of making some of the thing in the shop. She was very excited.

When she walked in the door, she saw Jack sitting at the table in the kitchen, apparently waiting for her.

When he saw her, he got up and walked over to her. There was a strange look in his eye that she didn't recognize.

"He, Rose," he said, and kissed her. When he pulled away, he said, "C'mere, there's something I want to talk about."

Completely nonplussed, se followed him to the table and sat down. Jack, for the first time since they met, looked nervous. Not very, but enough to have it show. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Rose, I want you to know that you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. These past two months have practically been heaven on Earth for me. But one thing was wrong."

Rose now felt a little bad. What didn't he like?

He knelt next to her and took her hand. "You're not mine." Rose beginning to catch on but today her brain was working slower than usual.

"Rose DeWitt Bukator, will you marry me?"

Her answer was kissing him with all she had. After what seemed like hours they broke apart. Jack was grinning. "So I guess this means 'yes'?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, _yes!_" she said, and kissed him again, harder, if possible. When he finally pulled away, he put the ring on her finger.

Just then Molly walked in. She looked from Jack to Rose, then looked at her hand. She nearly screamed. What came out was some kind of cross between a squeal and a shriek.

"Oh, my God!" She began to jump around. She was nearly more excited then they were; they were holding it in. Molly seemed just too excited.

"When Jack told me I needed to go get something, I kind of figured he was trying to get me out of the house so he could ask, but I wasn't sure, oh, God, this is so great!!!"

Jack was grinning at her in a 'you're crazy and that's why I like you' kind of way **(A/N- that is practically how ALL of my friends look at me...)**. Rose was positively beaming at how excited she was for them.

Molly hugged them both, then began to calm down. Taking a few deep breaths, she regained control. Grinning, she said, "So have you decided on anything yet?"

"No."

"Okay, then," she answered, "I'll leave you alone so you can start."

And with that, she left the room. Jack kissed Rose one more time, and they sat down to plan.

**Ok, I know this was a short chappie, but I wanna have the wedding in its own chapter. Molly went crazy like me on a sugar high. I knew I liked her... I'm proud of my OC. **

**I'm writing a Titanic oneshot that will come out soon, so you might want to check that out. So yeah. I need to think of stuff to happen for the next chapter. Maybe I'll bring Cal back. (all readers simultaneously shout 'NO!!!!!!!!!' at the top of their lungs) Hey! I said maybe!**

**Review and tell me how much I suck,**

**Arns**


	8. Cal's Back?

**Here we go! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I had to think of something. I did some minor changes to the first few chapters after a few reviewers told me that the main first class characters are American, and re-watching the movie proved them right. So I apologize for that little mess-up. Also, Rose is 17 on the Titanic, but I made up the fact that her birthday is on June 4. And Jack's is December 29. So he's nineteen now. This is in July. **

**I own nothing but Molly and the plot. Quite proud of both, actually. But spending my life writing on fanfiction will not get me anywhere. So I'll write on fanfiction, but I'll do other stuff. That I'll actually own. And people will write fanfictions about that. Wahoo!**

Rose was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. She felt Jack turn over beside her. A smile crept up her face. Sleep had been more generous to him than her. **(A/N- She smiled about Jack, not the sleep thing.)**

Moonlight turned her gold wedding band to silver. Rose gazed at it, loving what it symbolized. She was Jack's. When she had been engaged to Cal, she did not like being treated like an object that was owned. But Rose knew Jack didn't think of her in that way. He didn't expect her to think that way. But she did. And she loved it. Mrs. Rose Dawson.

A few months ago, Rose never would have believed that this would be possible. But it was. She loved Jack and Molly (in a mixture between sisterly and best friend) and her new life. Cal couldn't ruin this. Not this time.

The eighteen-year-old redhead was finally drifting off into the same world as her nineteen-year-old husband was in when she heard footsteps downstairs. _Probably just Molly getting a drink of water,_ her sleepy mind registered. If she had been more alert, she may have heard the door open. But as it was, with sleep finally talking her into its arms, she did not.

There were more footsteps. Then a voice, cool and commanding, said quietly, "Take her."

Several pairs of hands grabbed her and lifted her up. Immediately she was wide awake and panicking. Out of sheer terror, for she had absolutely no idea what was going on, she started to scream. She thrashed and fought those holding on to her. She heard rather than saw Jack get up as soon as she made a sound; the moonlight was not sufficient light and her eyes were not adjusted to the darkness. Jack yelled, "Get off her!" and he began to hit everything in reach (besides Rose).

Rose was dropped to the floor. Her captors were trying to fend off Jack. They had the look of overpaid henchmen. Before she could get up off the floor and help Jack, someone else grabbed her and began to drag her away from the fighting. An all-too familiar voice whispered in her ear, "Still his whore, then?"

She whipped around, half by her own free will, loose, long hair slapping Cal in the face. "Actually not," she said, still trying to pull free from him. She held up her left hand. "See this?" she said forcefully, pointing to her engagement ring, "This means that Jack proposed and I accepted. And do you see this?" she said, still more forcefully, pointing to her wedding ring, "This means that we got married. Today, in fact."

Jack and Cal's men had stopped fighting, watching the girl too long pushed around and misunderstood talking out her anger to the man who had caused most of it. She was not yelling; she did not need to. "So no," she concluded, "I am no longer his whore."

Jack, in spite of the situation, grinned. _That_ was the girl he loved. The whole whore thing he didn't get, but he'd ask Rose about that later.

Cal stepped away from Rose. Even though their employer was in a state of shock, the man took advantage of Jack's moment unguarded. One of them grabbed Jack's arms and pulled them behind him with brute force.

Que Molly. She had heard Rose's screams, ran upstairs, and waited for her moment. This was it. She punched the man holding Jack in the temple with all her might; he dropped like a stone.

Jack was released, but Cal seemed to have regained his senses. He took out a revolver and pointed it at Jack. Molly was shoved out of the way, then ignored, for the most part. She was being held in the same way Jack had been, but she was not fighting. She was watching this scene unravel.

Rose was looking at Cal with ultimate hate, but there was also terror in her eyes, terror for Jack.

"Marry me," Cal said simply, "and I will not shoot the gutter rat."

Jack twitched at the 'nickname'. He didn't like being put down; like all men, he had his pride. But one move could kill him. That was one of the last things on his to-do list.

Rose looked at him. They both knew what she would rather do. She didn't want him to die. He mouthed frantically _Don't do it, Rose! Let him shoot me! _She shook her head. She couldn't let him die, and yet if she did marry Cal, she had murdered both of them.

"I always win, Rose."

Rose lunged for the nearest brainwashed overpaid idiot of Cal's and grabbed his gun out of his pocket. She aimed it at Cal's chest.

"You shoot him," she said, voice dangerously quiet, "I'll kill you."

Molly had absolutely no idea how Cal smiled just then. If Rose had been looking at _her_ like that, she would have been running as fast as she could in the other direction.

But smile Cal did. "I'd still win," he said, "Even if I were dead and not with you, you wouldn't be with him."

Rose made a split-second, scary decision. What made it even more terrifying was that she did it without a second's hesitation. She pointed the gun at her own head.

Jack stiffened. He knew if he moved he would kill them both. "You're so _stupid_, Rose," he said passionately, under his breath.

"Yes I am," she replied, "You're right, you son of a bitch, you would still win. But now I have changed my proposal. You shoot him, and I'll pull this little trigger, and we will be together in heaven, and no matter how hard you try, you will never disturb us again." Her voice was as calm as a duckpond on a windless night, and as cold as an iceberg floating in the middle of the North Atlantic.

Cal, now, was thinking. She was right. If she shot herself, and he had no doubt that she would if he killed Jack, they would win, not him.

The first classman slowly lowered the revolver.

"I'm glad you see it my way, Mr. Hockley," she said, voice sweet but still cold, "Now if you will get out, you are trespassing on private property."

Jack shoved off the guy who was holding Molly. She nodded in thanks, still too shocked at what she had seen to move or speak much.

Cal was following his men to out the door when he turned, grabbed Rose, and dragged them both out the window. Jack and Molly ran to the window just in time to see Rose land, then Cal land on top of her.

That was when Jack lost it completely. With a nearly inhuman roar of fury, he jumped out the window, hit the ground rolling, got up, dragged Cal off Rose's motionless body, and beat the hell out of him. Every bad feeling he had towards the other man, every awful thing he had said to and about him and Rose, every horrific thing he'd done to them came out as those blows. Jack was yelling every word he could think of to describe him. Cal fought back as best as he could (not very well, then), but he was nothing to Jack in a complete fury.

Cal was finally losing consciousness. The last thing he heard was Jack's deadly whisper, "What made you think you could put you hands on my wife?" Then blackness.

**So what did ya think? Pretty good, eh? I think so. I like my references to the movie. There will be more of those, I guarantee it. I've already written the next chapter. Cal is not dead for all the people who wanted him to. I won't make him die. But I have my reasons. You wouldn't get it. But I did want Jack to beat the everloving snot out of Cal. At least, I wanted _somebody_ to do it, and Jack seemed to be the most... ah... _able_.**

**So that's it. Like I said, I've already written the next chapter and that will be coming out as soon as I can type it. **

**Thank you to Meytal, even though she annoyed the heck outta me to let her read this and the next one, she told me it was good. With her words as well as her obnoxious actions. **

**Later!**

**-Arnold-**


	9. Suprises

**I' bringing these chapters out as fast as I can. As soon as I post one, I'm typing up the next one. I'm so proud of myself. **

**Hey guess what? I OWN TITANIC!!!! THE MOVIE, THE CHARACTERS, THE IDEA, IT ALL, MAN! _Really???? _NO!!!**

Jack turned, breathing heavily, to Rose's lifeless body. His stomach turned over unpleasantly. He kneeled down beside her and checked for a pulse. _Thank God,_ he thought when he felt the steady thumping. Then he noticed two dark stains in the ground, one by her leg, which was scraped, and one by her head. Jack just stared, horrified.

By now Molly had run down the stairs, shoving past Cal's sons of bitches (Molly was not very happy right now) who were carrying their employer, and gotten to Jack. She saw the blood and fought the urge to vomit. Not that gore sickened her; she had seen a lot of that, being a nurse. But the idea that one person could do that to another was what made her want to regurgitate all she had eaten that day. It was also the fact that this was her friend who was wounded so horribly.

"We have to get help," she said, "We have to get her to the hospital."

Jack just looked at her hopelessly. "She's in horrific condition and we don't have the money-"

"Yes we do. The tiny bit of profit that I've made over the past two months I have saved for something like this, some kind of emergency."

Molly grabbed Rose under the arms, motioning for Jack to help. They carried her to a very small, local hospital. She was immediately taken into a room. A receptionist led them to a room with chairs and motioned for them to sit. Molly did so; Jack, however, couldn't sit. He needed to keep moving to keep his mind off what might happen to Rose.

After an excruciatingly long wait, the doctor who had taken Rose came out and said, "You may come see her now. She is still unconscious, though. We don't know how long she will stay so. She took a bad wound to her head, but we are glad to say there is not concussion or bleeding in the brain. We also cleaned and bandaged her leg."

They were led into a plain white room. There was doctor's equipment in it. But the only thing they noticed was the bed, or rather, the redhead lying on it. In the two months living in Wisconsin, she had gotten much tanner and her cheeks had been more colored. That was all but barely gone. Rose was as deathly pale as she had been when she was floating on a bit of driftwood in the middle of the North Atlantic. And that scared the hell out of Jack. She had lost so much blood. They had come so far and now she was practically dying. All because of Cal.

Jack sank into a chair by her bed, looking completely hopeless and defeated. That freaked Molly out. Jack was a fighter. He de-froze himself because there was a chance that the girl he loved was still alive. He had lived through some of the worst wounds she had ever had to deal with. Yet here he was, totally and utterly defeated, and Molly's whole picture of Jack shattered.

Jack was staring at Rose, pain at not knowing what was going to happen on his face. The doctor had seemed optimistic enough, but there was no missing the worried look in his eye that suggested that Rose might not be okay.

He took her limp hand in his, gripping so hard his knuckles turned white. Molly could tell he was fighting tears. She dropped into the chair next to him and put her arm around his shoulders. He made no movement to show that he noticed, other than reaching his other hand up to his shoulder and put his hand on hers.

-------------------

Rose opened her eyes to bright sunshine, head pounding.Someone was gripping her hand so tight her fingers felt cold and cut off. She began to sit up.

As soon as she moved, Jack, who had been holding her hand, stood. By then she was fully upright. He kissed her long and hard.

When he broke away he was practically laughing in relief. "I thought you were going to die!" He kissed her again, pulled away and shouted, "Molly! She's okay! Go get someone!"

She heard Molly's relieved, "Oh, thank God!" and her running footsteps.

"You were out for a week, and we were starting to give up hope-" Jack then hugged her with all that he had.

Molly came running in, followed by the doctor who seemed slightly calmer. She ran to Rose and hugged her every bit as hard as Jack had, shouting, "_Never_ scare us like that again!"

"You did give us quite the fright, Mrs. Dawson," said the doctor, "They tell me that you got pulled out a window. You're leg was cut, but that healed while you were still out, and you too a nasty blow to the head that could have been real problematic if they hadn't brought you here when they did. By tomorrow you should be fit to leave."

True to his word, she was let out the next day after dinner and a last check-over. The three walked back to the house.

They took their time, and by the time they got back the sun was nearing the horizon. Molly went in the house and Jack, after motioning for Rose to stay there, ran after her and came back out with his drawing supplies, calling to Molly "Don't wait for us, we'll be out late or won't come back tomorrow morning!" When he got to Rose he grabbed her hand and led her into Chippewa Forest. Rose hadn't been here since their first day. But Jack was pulling her along at a run, seeming to know where he was going. In a little over five minutes, they burst through a last few trees and they were at the Falls.

The thousands of tons of water spilling over the sides of the cliffs took her breath away just like they had the first time, but this time she saw water bursting through a white set of locked double-doors and enveloping a man and his son. But before she could dwell on it the image was gone, leaving her with they beauty of the waterfalls and she forgot about it.

Jack, still holding on to her hand, pulled her close. She barely had time to register the feelings swirling through her head when his mouth descended on hers, kissing her slowly and passionately.

It seemed like several days of only sunset before he pulled away. When he did, Rose said, "Well, you dragged me all the way down here and I have a feeling that it wasn't just for that."

"No," he said, grinning, "That was just a bonus." He held up his drawing supplies. "I'm gunna draw you Chippewa Falls."

"But I thought you said that you couldn't get it-"

He put a finger to her lips. "I have a feeling that I can do it now."

Rose had no idea why that would be, but she felt touched. Something that Jack couldn't do on his own, he could do for her. Rose just watched as he set up, intrigued. The last time he had done this she had been the model and unable to watch him. Jack put the pencil to the sheet and began to draw.

-------------------

When he was finished, he handed it to Rose. The sun had sunk beneath the horizon and the last rays were barely still there.

"There's no point in going back now," Rose said reasonably, "I don't think even you could find your way through those trees in the dark."

"I could if I tried," Jack replied, smiling, "But you're right, there's no point. We'd be back by morning anyway. And besides, I don't want to leave just yet."

He was still on the stump while Rose had taken up residence on the ground a while ago. He slid down so he was sitting next to her. He put his arm around her, and took her hand in his own, and kissed her.

He pulled away and she settled against him, his arm still around her, her hand still enclosed in his. And that is how the morning found them.

Rose woke up first. She found herself on the ground, still holding onto Jack's hand. _I must have rolled over or something,_ she reasoned, and sat up.

Jack was still slumped against the dead tree trunk. He was also still sound asleep, but uneasily. He was jerking and his mouth was forming words she couldn't hear.

Suddenly he sat bolt upright, wide awake, yelling, "Rose!"

He turned his head in her direction, pulled her to him and kissed her like his life depended on it. He pulled back, breathing heavily.

Rose was a bit unnerved. "What happened?" she said, wondering what could put Jack into such a state of panic.

Jack seemed to be regaining control. "Just a dream," he said, breathing calmer, "It was only a dream." He sounded as if he was trying to convince himself of that.

Rose nodded. She was a little afraid of going to sleep every night, for fear of what the Dream King might have in store for her. So many horrible things had happened to them that it was natural that both of them, and even Molly, would have nightmares. She didn't press the subject.

They began walking back to the house. Rose had a weird feeling in her stomach, but didn't know why, nor did she know what it was, so she didn't think much of it. Jack was completely silent, leading the way without thinking. His mind was on other things. He kept seeing Rose holding a baby and Cal standing over them holding a knife. _It was only a dream._

-------------------

They had been back for a while. Rose was chatting with Molly, random things like the whether and what had happened when Rose had been unconscious, when Rose fainted. The irony. Molly yelled at the top of her lungs for Jack, who was up in the attic. He came running down, saw Rose, ran to the sink, got a cup of water, and dumped it on Rose's head. She jolted awake.

Jack looked at her, concerned. "Rose, are you okay? Can you walk?"

Rose looked a bit annoyed at being pampered like she always had, but she just nodded. "I think I need to see a doctor." Her voice sounded slightly distracted and in other worlds.

Molly nodded and together, they helped Rose walk to the more populated part of town where there was a small doctor's office there for minor things.

Rose was ushered inside and Jack and Molly were told to wait on the benches provided for this kind of thing.

After about half an hour Rose came out, mood completely changed. She was nearly jumping she was so happy and excited. "Thank you!" she yelled after her.

"My pleasure, Mrs. Dawson," he replied, but he realized nobody was listening. He looked at the happy couple and their 'housemaid'. Their lives were about to change.

Rose ran to Jack and threw her arms around his neck. His went to her waist. "I'm having a baby," she said, grinning, "Due in December."

Jack wasn't expecting _that_. Neither was Molly, apparently. She screamed "OH MY GOD!!!!" as Jack kissed Rose.

Jack thought as they walked home, Rose and Molly jabbering excitedly. What was nine months before December?

The answer came to him almost instantly. It was stupid even to ask the question. April.

**How do you like it? I have no idea what pregnant women feel, and I won't do research to figure it out, so I made it up. Rose got dehydrated or something, that's why she fainted. So yeah. Hope you liked it, cuz I sure did!**

**-Arnold-**


	10. A New Arrival

**Hi, I'm sooooo sorry I haven't updated in so long, my computers went haywire, to say the least. Don't kill me. This chappie is short, I couldn't really think of anything.**

**I own nothing.**

The next nine months were practically uneventful. Molly had 'promoted' herself to nanny and was busting around, getting everything ready for the baby.

The first snow was on December 2. They were being lazy, because it was Sunday, and Rose didn't have to work. All of a sudden, Rose started gasping and said, "The baby's coming."

-------------------

They had gotten her to the doctor's office, and once again, the two were told to wait. It was agonizing, but finally a nurse came and, grinning, said, "Congratulations. It's a girl."

Jack got up and walked into the room. Rose was lying on the bed, holding the baby. She looked up and saw Jack, and her face broke into a smile. Jack came over and stood next to her to look at his daughter.

"She looks like my mom," Jack commented.

Rose had been wondering where the green eyes had come from. Now that he said it, he did look like the woman in that picture.

"Can we call her Ellie?"

Rose turned to look at him. A bit of pain was twisted into his face. _That was the name of his sister,_ Rose recalled. "Yes," Rose replied simply, No more words were needed. She understood.

"It's a tribute to her. I never spoke about her. I never told anyone but you two, not even Fabrizio. And he was my best friend. I fell I owe it to her."

Rose nodded. "I understand."

**Like I told you, really short. I'm sorry. I had a bit of writer's block, and I wanted this to stand on it's own. I'll update when I think of something. I know you hate me for making you wait this long then giving you this tiny pathetic scrap of writing, but I have to.**

**-Arnold-**


	11. Forever in Jack's Arms

Ok, I will try to wrap this up ok. I'm soooo sorry that it's taken me 4 ½ months to update. Is that some kind of record? Maybe. Well, this won't end like the other ones.

**I don't own it. 'Cept I do own Ellie. Junior and Senior.**

**--**

"Mom! I'm home!"

Lizzie walked around the house, searching for her mother, who had been staying here with Lizzie's grandma for the past few days.

Rose Dawson was not doing so well. At 101, she had practically finished living life. And her whole family was worried that God would want to take back such an amazing woman. Still, the old lady had been holding on.

Lizzie walked into her nana's room and found her mother sitting next to the bed, which was holding Rose. Grandpa Jack had passed away the year before. Rose had tried not to let the devastation get to her, but it pulled her down. And now, it seemed, it was her turn, time to be reunited with him.

Ellie could see that her mother was dying, and that killed her. No longer very young herself, Ellie just wished that her mother could go back to the way she had been before her dad died, but that wasn't possible. Now she was slipping, slowly but surely leaving this world in favor of the next one.

Rose had lived a long and full life. Now she was finished with it, and she was ready to move on. "I held on as long as I could, Ellie. Never let go."

Lizzie sobbed. Ellie sat in her chair in shock, then she began to cry as well. Her mother was gone, no longer occupying the body that lay still and breathless on the bed.

--

Rose floated up. Or down. She couldn't tell. All she knew was that she was on the Titanic again, and it was exactly as she remembered it. There was Jack, waiting for her, as he had been for a year. She was 17 again, and it felt good to be in a body that worked. This is the way it will be forever. Rose liked the sound of being in Jack's arms for that long.

Hope you liked it. This is by far my most popular story so far. Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed!

**-Arnold-**


End file.
